Claude saw King Stefan, King Hubert and Queen Charlotte at the steps of the main castle, descending to meet him with fixed expressions of hate. I hope they understand why I disobeyed, thought Claude, dismounting his steed and handing the reins to a waiting lieutenant. As was usual for a captain reporting back after a mission, he kneeled on one knee before the monarchs, trying to block out the loud, questioning voices of his officers around him. King Hubert descended the steps to speak with him, a comforting hand laid gently on the captain's shoulder.

"My thanks to you captain for acting out of honour this afternoon. My son is very grateful to you."

"Thank you, sire," replied Claude, a little unsettled. Unsure of what to do next, Claude remained kneeling before the assembly, which now consisted of most of the palace guards and a few nobles who had remained after the wedding as guests. He broke with protocol and looked up at King Stefan. As if this was the cue he was waiting for, Stefan turned to the captain.

"Please explain what happened today."

"We came across a woman – Maleficent – who had been injured. Prince Phillip's first reaction was to kill her, and I persuaded him to bring her back here as prisoner."

"Where did you find her?"

"Near Shepherd's Brook."

"Not far from here. Thank you captain. You are dismissed." Claude rose, nodded in salute to the king and marched to the side of the courtyard out of the way. He turned and looked back on the scene at the bottom of the steps. Two guards were still holding Maleficent to the floor, despite her being unconscious. Claude watched as Stefan carefully bent over Maleficent, reaching a hand out tentatively to shake her shoulder.

"Maleficent – who'd have thought?" whispered Claude under his breath, then headed off to the barracks – having, after all, been dismissed from the proceedings.

"Maleficent? Are you awake?" said Stefan loudly, shaking her shoulder again. When he got no response the king turned and beckoned Hubert and Charlotte to him. He dismissed the two guards - it was clear that Maleficent was no immediate threat. The three crouched next to her and lowered their voices that none may overhear their discussion.

"She lived? Impossible!" blustered Hubert.

"I know. But look at the state on her!" added Charlotte, trying not to feel sympathy for the broken creature in front of her.

"She cursed your daughter."

"She imprisoned and tried to kill your son."

"She deserves to die," growled Stefan. "But now honour prevents us from killing her in her sleep. Let her awaken – let her be sent for healing – even if the outcome is the same, at least I will have had time to think it over."

Queen Charlotte stood and called over four servants who, after the briefest of instructions, picked up Maleficent and carried her up the stairs and into the castle. While care was taken, Charlotte found herself admonishing the servants for causing bruises to her adversary's arms and legs as they carried her – though, of course, the queen understood that the bruises themselves were caused mainly by the delicate nature of the remaining flesh and would be nothing compared to the burn damage.

Once inside the main keep, the royal physician fussed over Maleficent, stemming the now slow blood-flow from the wound on her chest. As he worked, his assistants cleaned up Maleficent's burns as best they could, taking care not to rip her flesh as they slowly removed the ash and mud from her raw flesh. While they worked quickly, they were meticulous in their attentions to her injuries – even taking time to sew a gash across her nose with the tiniest of stitches that no scar be left should she recover. Linen bandages soaked in honey to aid healing were applied to her ravaged limbs and torso, the physician not daring to add lavender oil in case it irritated the skin further. After two hours, the physician and his assistants left having done all they could, stating that her recovery was now up to Maleficent herself. Throughout all this, Queen Charlotte remained on watch, her faithful bodyguards at her side. She would later be unable to explain why she felt the need to remain at Maleficent's side, only able to admit she had felt compelled to do so.

What was compelling Charlotte to stay, though she was unable to recognise the reason herself, was a deep need within the queen to understand why the fairy had cursed her family so. She was fully aware that Maleficent had once been an ally of her country, had been and always would remain a part of her own family's history. Maleficent unnerved her - she was not sure how old the woman was, what she'd seen, had not met her other than at a brief exchange just after she and Stefan were married - and then, the discussion had hardly been pleasant as the orchestrated meeting had been purely to avoid Maleficent's presence at the actual wedding. Both sides had known it and Maleficent's barely suppressed sneer as she was asked to swear fealty to her new queen still burned in Charlotte's memory. Far worse had been Maleficent's appearance at Aurora's christening, a moment when Charlotte had finally understood what could drive a mother to want to kill. With a wave, Charlotte dismissed her bodyguards. As they closed the door, she walked over and sat next to the bed. Furious at the nerve of her enemy in coming to her for aid, angry tears fell down Charlotte's face.

"How dare you live? How could you curse my daughter - answer me!" Futile though the attempt was, Charlotte was determined to have an answer as soon as possible. Patiently, Charlotte sat back, barely moving, waiting.

Deep in her unconscious state, Maleficent dreamed. She watched the rat run circles around her prone body in the valley, before it turned into a monstrous dragon and launched screaming at her, drenching her in flame. She was unable to move, her heart pounding as the dragon tore at her with a claw, ripping her flesh and spilling her blood. Then came a furious roar as the dragon descended on her, mouth open and ready to snap... A sword, gleaming white, tore through the image of the dragon, evaporating it before her eyes. This left her alone, in a silent, black world of nothingness. A bright light swooped down before her and danced merrily off to one side – far too fast for her flailing hands to catch it. Don't leave me! The light disregarded her completely, blinking out of existence as swiftly as it had been created. Dawn broke over the landscape where she was suddenly standing, armour bloodied, staff broken – she'd been here before. This was her first battlefield, her first fight. The first time she'd killed. I remember... She looked around at the carnage around her. There were never this many bodies... Alone with the dead, Maleficent circled around. Is there anyone there? I'm alone! She tried to avoid the blood-red sky, the oppressive woods, the bodies at her feet. Even with her eyes closed, the stench of death was overwhelming until a kind hand tapped at her arm. She opened her eyes – rather than a hand, she saw a raven perched on her shoulder. Diablo – dearest Diablo – I thought you were dead. She raised a hand to stroke her pet, but the raven cawed at her mockingly and flew away into the darkening night. No! Don't leave me! Don't leave me with them! No! No! A high-pitched cackle that she recognised as her own broke the silence and started to build to a crescendo. Stop – please! Let it end. On cue, the sword cut through the darkness and pierced her chest, silencing the laughter, red blood shining black in the dim light, searing pain gripping her once again.

Back in the courtyard, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather had been summoned downstairs to deal with this new problem and were deep in discussion with the two kings. They were devastated to discover that Maleficent had survived, knowing that King Stefan may be duty-bound to accommodate their nemesis within the very castle in which Aurora now lived. While the fairies admired honour, mercy and kindness above all things, Flora and Merryweather at least were agreed that Maleficent should be killed in her sleep before she had a chance to wake up and cause more mischief. Fauna was more concerned with why Flora's curse on Phillip's sword had not worked.

Fauna had always been convinced that there was a more peaceful solution to the strained relations between the four fairies than killing Maleficent. It did not help that Maleficent was not technically a pureblood – there was definitely some elf in her, and possibly dark-elf at that. Fauna thought that Maleficent's mixed lineage could at least explain her height and lack of wings, if not her foul disposition and sickly pallor. Her parentage also explained why Maleficent could control such powerful, destructive magic – something the three fairies would not have dared to attempt. The four had argued for the last two centuries, "the three good fairies" finally joining up when they realised they were more of a match for Maleficent together than apart. Maleficent had been an early advisor in the Rivne court, her prowess in the battlefield at a time when mages were commonplace being very useful.

When Stefan II had ascended the throne and appointed Flora, Fauna and Merryweather as his advisors in conjunction with Maleficent, the strain of working together eventually proved too much. During discussions over a short war with the neighbouring kingdom, the fairies disagreed about which policy to follow – Maleficent preferring a slash-and-burn approach to their neighbours, and the other three considering a peace treaty should the other side agree to surrender. The meeting was not going well and tempers were running high. Maleficent threw a tantrum in the middle of the war room, overturning a table with a map of the battlefield on it and pinning Merryweather to the wall with one hand on two occasions, brandishing her staff at the king when he dared to claim she was working for the enemy towards the end of the meeting. Despite the fact Maleficent calmed down instantly, she was sent to the Forbidden Mountains to quell a goblin uprising and sat out the rest of the war plotting revenge. Stefan had died not long after making peace with the neighbouring kingdom, forcing Maleficent's revenge to wait for two generations, the snub at the christening being that proverbial last straw that triggered her response. Charlemagne had at least invited her to important functions, giving her the title of "Governess of the Forbidden Mountains" to show to all her position in court was technically still secure. Not that she had ever been invited back permanently. Stefan III, Charlemagne's son and the current king, had tried to keep Maleficent as far from court as possible, until now.

"What happened? Why is she still alive?" demanded Stefan, rousing Fauna from her memories.

"I don't know," Flora clasped her hands together and wrung them worriedly in front of her as she spoke, "perhaps I was not specific enough..."

"Or too specific," interrupted Merryweather in a sulky tone.

"What do you mean?" asked Stefan.

"She was too specific. "That evil die and good endure." I ask you – whoever heard of any intelligent creature being pure evil?" spat Merryweather at Flora.

"Or pure good," retorted Flora, glaring at Merryweather.

"Are you saying she lived because there was a tiny shred of decency in her, underneath it all?" asked King Hubert.

"Perhaps. Not that she is a good person," added Fauna quickly, "but there may be, as you said, a shred of decency. Perhaps just a feeling she held onto for long after she'd turned to the evil one. Someone she remained loyal to. Something she genuinely loved or cared for."

"Herself?" suggested Hubert. Merryweather, Stefan and Flora gave amused snorts of laughter that had little to do with humour, while Fauna looked disapprovingly at the king.

"How is she? Is she awake yet?" asked Fauna.

"No, still asleep, as far as I am aware," said Stefan wearily.

"We should go and see her," said Merryweather. "It could be that we can help."

"I forbid you to help her."

"But – of course majesty," corrected Fauna quickly. It wouldn't do to argue, yet. Let the king calm down first. The five headed towards the hospital wing, but were quickly stopped by Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip.

"Could I see her?" asked Aurora quietly. Those assembled spun to face her and looked shocked at the request. When no-one answered her, Aurora smiled. "Thank you." As they continued down a corridor, no-one spoke, each wondering which course of action would be the best. The gloomy silence of the lower recesses of the main keep was unexpectedly disturbed by a loud, agonised scream.